Investigating the Effect of Khat Habituation on Psychomotor Behavior in Mice

The purpose of this study was to look into the effects of khat habituation on psychomotor behaviour in mice, as well as the effects of khat withdrawal on the reversal of khat habituation effects.

In this investigation, 18 adult mice weighing 20–30 g were employed. The animals were divided into three groups, one of which was used as a control. After overnight starvation, khat in a dose of 2 g/kg was given with food to promote khat-habituation. After one week, the tested animals were given access to both khat-containing and non-khat-containing items, with the majority of the animals favouring the khat-containing foods. The animals which preferred khat-containing food were regarded as showing khat-habituation and were continued to feed khat-containing food in a dose of 2g/kg/day for two months to develop chronic khat habituation, animals which had not preferred khat- containing food were excluded from the study and were regarded as resistant to khat habituation. Animals were given food for 14 days without any khat to induce khat-withdrawal. To evaluate the impact of khat habituation on locomotor activity and the impact of khat withdrawal on the reversal of khat effects, the locomotor activities of animals were observed and graded in accordance with the behaviour scale. Animals that had become khat-habituated exhibited a considerable rise in stereotypical psychomotor behaviour, which peaked 15 to 30 minutes after khat use. Following a 14-day khat withdrawal, mice's psychomotor behaviour returned to normal. Chronic khat habituation significantly increases mice's psychomotor behaviour, however this effect is only temporary and can be reversed if the habit is broken.